


Proposals

by Catsarecutebutaliens



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I'm gonna add more tags later on, Marriage Proposal, Pepperony - Freeform, Proposals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-17 02:44:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16966203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catsarecutebutaliens/pseuds/Catsarecutebutaliens
Summary: Four times Tony asked her to marry him and the one time he doesn't.





	1. I.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this has been sitting in my drafts for literal months but I have never gotten around to finishing it. I am hoping that posting this will help me to get off my ass, though editing this has been a way of procrastinating my other writing projects. Like the title says, this is basically about all kinds of marriage proposals. We will come to the angst in the end so stay tuned! 
> 
> Comments and likes are always appreciated and make me update even faster (loving me that validation and motivation). If you wanna beta read this or find any mistakes, tell me. Always thankful for that as well. 
> 
> I am going to update every week (hopefully) so we should be finished in less than two months!
> 
> (Also, the first chapter is the shortest one since it was mostly taken from the movie, just fyi.)

The door behind him opened, and Tony didn't even have to turn around to know who was coming. 

"Where's the kid?" 

Pepper sounded about as mad as he had expected, which was ultimately a good thing. 

"He left."

"Everybody's waiting."

He turned around to talk to her, and while he did not like the slightly angry look in her eyes, he was still stunned every time he saw her. How on earth could this beautiful woman ever be in love with him?

"You know what? He actually made a really mature choice, just surprised the heck out of us."   
Yes, bringing Happy into it so she would make both of them responsible for the now ruined conference.

"Did you guys screw this up?" She was looking at him and only him now, the annoyance clearly audible in her voice. Tony opened his mouth, tried to stutter out a coherent sentence, but closed it again after taking a deep breath. Arguing with Pepper was never successful.

"He told the kid `go wait in the car.´" So it is totally not my fault, was left unsaid. The distraction worked and Pepper was now taking a step towards Happy, who immediately tried to justify his actions, but was interrupted by her. Tony would certainly hear some complaints from Happy later on for throwing him under the bus like that.

"Are you kidding me?" The next step was in his directions again, causing him to take a small one back. Standing his ground against her had never even been an option.  
"I have a room full of people in there, waiting for some big announcement. What am I gonna tell them?"

Good question, next question. Tony had never been good with the press, hence the PA and all the other employees he paid to deal with it.  
"Think of something." She looked at him questioningly, waiting for an idea, but nothing came. A sigh escaped her lips and with a small smile, she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. Surprised, he kissed her back, happy she was apparently not angry anymore. Her mouth was soft against his, and if they had had more time, he would have tried to continue it.

"Come on now, let's improvise." The kiss ended too soon and she left to get back into the room, leaving him behind. Suddenly, something flashed through his mind. An impulsive idea he'd had years ago, after coming back from Afghanistan and seeing Pepper again, waiting, hoping.

"You still got that ring?" he urged Happy, already on his way to the door. His head of security tossed it towards him, the biggest grin he had ever seen on his face; no words were needed. Finally, he followed his hopefully soon to be fiancee inside.

 

The door closed behind him, and the cameras started flashing into his directions as he walked towards Pepper, who was still greeting everyone and unnecessarily introducing the two of them to the reporters. When he came to stand beside her, he wrapped his right arm around her waist, the hand with the engagement ring now resting unknowingly against her skin. She gave him a curious look since he wasn't usually very affectionate in public, which had been her own request, but continued talking.

"Now, before we come to the big announcement, we will be open to answering a few questions." This would hopefully buy her some time to think of something to tell and please the public; they were always open to new information on their favorite superhero. Maybe they would actually have his face on the front page again, not an article about her dress choice.

But before she could pick out one of the reporters, who had started to shout her name with their hands in the air, Tony interrupted them and leaned towards the microphone.

"Actually," he said and suddenly everything became quiet again, except for the clicking of the cameras, "I do have something I need to do right now."  
He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, which left her with a slight blush and a bunch of flashes in her direction before his arm slipped from her waist. 

For the first time this day, her mind went blank and couldn't seem to process anything that was happening right now. Not the way he kneeled down in front of her nor the sudden cries and the increase in the decibels in the room nor the beautiful ring he was holding in his hand. 

Pepper was frozen and stared in shock while his speech washed over her. The words "marry" and "love" were the only ones to stick, something she was going to regret later on. Not for the first time, she was thankful for JARVIS, who would play the scene to her over and over again, until every second was burned into her brain. 

No sound escaped her own lips as she desperately tried to think of something, anything, to answer, but nothing happened. So, as it was the only thing left to do, she gently pulled him up by his collar and kissed him so intensely he almost dropped the ring. His hands came up around her neck, and he pulled her closer and closer as the press went wild. When they came apart again, they were both surprised by each other's actions and breathing heavily. Laughing, he lifted the ring in front of her face, eyebrows raised in a question.

"So, was that a yes?" 

It was only natural to kiss him again, quick and sweet this time.

"Yes," she whispered against his lips and a smile just as bright as his started to spread on her face. 

Tony gently slipped the diamond onto her left hand, observing with awe in his eyes the way it fit perfectly. Standing in a thunderstorm of clicking and flashing they stepped forward again, hands intertwined.   
"So, hm, we can now continue. Any questions?"

The press conference continued for another hour and a half, leaving them with dry throats and hurting cheeks from smiling so much. Pepper still felt like she was in a dream, the whole situation was as surreal as the giant diamond ring resting on her finger.   
She leaned back against the seat and let her head fall onto Tony's shoulder, who promptly put his arm around her to pull her closer, They spend the drive to the tower in silence, both occupied with their own thoughts. Occasionally, she could feel his gaze on her, especially on the ring, as if he himself could not believe she was going to marry him. 

When they were laying in their bed a few hours later, bodies as close as possible, she lifted her head from his chest to look up at him with a smile.

"You know I'm going to keep my name, right?" 

Tony softly took her hand, fingertips dancing over the back of it before he grazed the ring. He pressed a kiss onto her hair before answering: "I love you, honey, more than anything. You could kill someone and I would still marry you. Probably even more."   
They both started laughing quietly, feeling the vibrations in their chests, and she lay down again, pulling her hand back to take the ring off before going to sleep.

The diamond reflected the artificial light of her nightstand lamp, a single star in her life. Well, next to the blue shimmer of his reactor, pulsing together with his heart, it didn't compare.

"Goodnight, Pepper."

"Goodnight, Tony."


	2. II.

Pepper clutched the documents tightly in her hand as she went down the stairs to his workshop, calling out for Tony as she did so. While she usually worked from her office, today she had stayed at home, since there wasn't a lot going on. With Tony nearby, she usually didn't get a lot of work done, so it was weird that she had been working for two hours without any interruptions from his side.

So, as she needed him to sign these anyway, she had decided to take a look. He was probably just working away, focused on either the suits or a new project of his, forgetting the world around him. But as she dialed in the code and was promptly let in, there was no music blasting into her ears and no Tony in sight. 

Mh, weird. She hadn't seen him on her way down so he was either in the back of the room or not in the house at all.

"JARVIS, where is Tony?", she asked the AI while looking for a clean spot to put down the documents. There was none. Half-empty coffee cups were slowly building up to dangerously swaying towers, and all kinds of oils and motor fluids had stained his workspace.  
Pepper went further into the workshop as the answer came. 

"Sir is not here, Ms. Potts, I'm afraid he answered an emergency call an hour ago. He told me not to interrupt your work. I apologize."

"No, it's alright, thank you," she assured him before finally finding a mostly tidy looking table and putting down the papers in her hand.   
On the computer screen next to it was a video on pause, showing Tony sitting in front of the camera. Curious as she was, she pressed play and was surprised it worked. Some of his projects were locked or JARVIS told her to not touch it but the AI, too, stayed quiet.

"So that's why- Oh come on, really?" An alarm was going off somewhere in the background and he stood up, abandoning the screen. The video stopped a few moments later, just in time to see Tony taking off in his suit. Even more curious than before, she rewound the video, sitting down to watch it in its entirety. 

"Ms. Potts, maybe you shouldn't do that?" 

Surprised, Pepper looked up, her hand hovering above the computer mouse, ready to press play. 

"What? Why? You were quiet before."

No answer. Great. Well then, as there was no explanation it wouldn't hurt to watch it, so she finally pressed play. Tony came into sight immediately, he was sitting in the same chair she was occupying at that moment, just that he seemed a lot more nervous than she was.   
He was fidgeting with some tech stuff and avoiding looking at the camera before sitting up straight and putting his hands into his lap.

"Alright so- god, I don't know what I'm doing here. Okay, test one, remind me to delete this later on." DUM-E came into sight, a black velvet box in his claw, which was placed on the desk in front of Tony, who picked it up and turned it towards the camera for her to see. Pepper's heart stopped beating for a second, and when it continued, it was way too fast. She should definitely not continue to watch this but her body was frozen in place, her tongue stuck in her mouth. With awe, she watched him continue.

"I love you, Pep. I have for over eight years. This ring belonged to my mother once and now it's time for it to go on to the next person. When you came into my life I was a mess, I still am. But now I am your mess and nothing could make me happier. Well, maybe one thing or two. Or maybe- well, you get the idea. God, this is horrible, JARVIS, if you don't delete this I will destroy the computer and burn its remains." 

The AIs voice swept in, interrupting his speech with a playful tone. 

"Always so dramatic, Sir. I am sure Ms. Potts will love this." 

"Shut up. Anyway, to get to the point," he held up the box, showing her the ring in detail, "Pepper Potts, will you marry me?  
Oh, that went better than expected. Just a few more tries and I'll have it perfect. Maybe I should just say I love you. So that's why-". 

She had arrived at the point where she had started watching the video. The last second went by, and soon she was staring at the now black screen, trying to process what the fuck just happened. 

Tony was going to propose to her. Had proposed, technically, and Pepper had no idea how the hell she was going to deal with that. Ignore it? A possibility but absurd. No, she needed to talk to him about that. But what should she say, "Hey, I know you want to marry me because I saw a video JARVIS told me not to watch"? No, there had to be a better option.

Maybe, she thought, as she stood up and started to pace around, maybe this was just one of his stupid jokes. But he would never do that, would he?  
"JARVIS," she called out before she had even finished her train of thought, "where is the ring?" Pepper could hear the AI wincing at her words, though that wasn't even possible. 

"I am not sure I can give you that information." 

"JARVIS, please." Pepper hoped she sounded less desperate than she was.

The AI sighed, actually sighed, and soon DUM-E rolled over, the very same box she had seen in the video clutched in his claw. With shaking hands, she took it from the robot and opened the box, almost sinking to the ground as she saw the ring. 

"Oh, what the actual-" The sound of the roof opening above her made her jump quite literally. Panic flooded her body and before she even realized what she was doing, she was running up the stairs, box still in her clam hands, her heart racing. She closed the door to her office as quiet as possible with her shaking hands and dropped the box into the bottom drawer of her desk, before sitting down. What had she done?

"Do not, and I repeat do NOT tell him, JARVIS, you got me? Don't. Under any circumstances. Tell him." While she waited for an answer, she dried her sweaty hands on her pants and attempted to fix her slightly out of place hair. When the AIs answer came back positive, she hunched in her chair and let out a long, deep breath. Time for a plan.

In the next hour, Pepper barely got any work done. Tony brought back the signed documents she had totally forgotten about, and while he most likely noticed something was off, he didn't ask, probably too occupied with the missing ring. But no matter how much she thought about everything that had happened in the workshop, her mind couldn't come up with anything that would fix the misery she had gotten herself into. 

Stupid curiosity, stupid me, she thought as she went down to dinner, which consisted of a pizza she had ordered via phone. The box was in her pocket, invisible but weighing a ton. When she arrived downstairs, Tony was already sitting on the couch with a glass of wine and a piece of pizza in his hand.

"Hey, beautiful," he greeted her and gestured for her to sit down, which she did. They decided to have a movie running in the background as they ate dinner and talked about their day, both leaving out a certain part. After twenty minutes, the carton and her glass were empty and the box in her pocket all over her thoughts, not that it had ever left since she had seen it the first time. 

Her body was snuggled against his, bare feet up on the couch under a fluffy blanket. She liked these evenings, just the two of them, it almost convinced her they were normal, and not crazy famous, one of them a superhero and the other the CEO of probably the biggest company in the world.

While she wanted the moment to continue forever, she needed to get it off her chest, now. So she straightened up a little and dug one hand under the blanket to grab the box. 

With shaking hands, she put it into his lap, watching his face closely. Nothing happened, at first, he just stared at it, lost for words. Then, his head turned, and he looked at her as if he had just seen her for the first time.   
Pepper simply smiled and opened it, taking in the ring for the second time this day. It truly was beautiful, a silver band with a way too big and too expensive diamond sitting on top of it. The fact that it had belonged to his mother made her heart ache even more.

"I saw the video," she eventually explained after he still hadn't said anything, "JARVIS tried to warn me but, well, I was too curious. I'm sorry, this is probably not the way you had planned it."   
Her laugh sounded weird in the silence, the movie still running quietly in the background, so she quickly stopped. As he still refused to say something she sat up to take his head into her hands, softly stroking his cheeks as she did. Insecure, brown puppy eyes met hers and she couldn't but press a quick kiss to his lips. 

"To answer your question: Yes, I want to marry you, more than anything. If you still want to marry me, that is."  
"Are you kidding?" he said, hesitantly picking up the ring, "Why do you think I made the video in the first place?"

When he slipped the ring onto her finger, it only felt natural. Tony kissed her, a real kiss this time, with his hands buried in her hair and her hands cupping his face. It was sweet and loving and simply perfect.

Later on, they would laugh about this, especially about Tony freaking out when he noticed the ring was gone, and Pepper's sprint back to her office, which had both been recorded by a delighted and only slightly annoyed JARVIS.

As Tony told her about his actual plans, which for some reason included him making an omelet, she was glad to have avoided the poisonous disaster that would have been.


	3. III.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this one gets a tiny bit angstier and Pepper and Tony aren't a couple yet. Still, lots of fluff. I hope you enjoy! <3

It didn't matter where she was working, it was an unwritten rule she wouldn't be home before 11 pm anyway most of the days. In the beginning, this had annoyed her a lot since she still had a private life and hobbies at that point, but fast forward a few months and she was all but invested in her work. Now, there still were some variations regarding her workplace. If she was at her office, she would be home at a, for her, reasonable time and go to bed immediately. 

Working at Stark's house, which she had been doing more and more often since he came back from Afghanistan, usually meant she would spend a few hours on the couch before her aching back woke her up and told her to go find a real bed. At that point, she drove home and left the rest of her work for future Pepper to take care of. 

Even though she would probably never admit it, she loved his house. She loved JARVIS and the big spaces and all the neat functions and possibilities a normal house didn't have. But most importantly, she adored the coffee machine. After asking the AI for help, she now knew how to make any kind of hot and cold beverage by pressing a few buttons and putting a cup under the opening. Just now, she watched the light brown liquid splashing into her cup with a smile and breathed in the smell of coffee. 

It was around 1 am, not too late compared to her whole week. Pepper still had enough work for another five hours so something to keep her awake would come in handy. The machine beeped once, signaling her to grab her drink, which she did. As she was about to leave the kitchen, a black piece of fabric caught her attention. It was thrown over the back of a chair and was so very out of place she couldn't but pick it up. 

The thing turned out to be a sweater, big and soft with some cheesy science pun on the front. 

"What do you call an acid with an attitude? A-mean-oh acid." 

Some chemical formula she barely recognized from her high school years filled the space between question and answer, and even though she only partially understood the joke, a chuckle escaped her lips. After a look at the formal clothes she was still wearing, Pepper decided to take it with her. She was one hundred percent sure this sweater belonged to Tony, judging from not only the print but the smell and the small dried oil stain on the right sleeve. 

Placing her cup next to her laptop, she sat down on the couch once again, ready to continue her work. While reading an email sent by a soon-to-be business partner, she got rid of her blazer and blouse, leaving her in only a black bra, before she pulled the sweater over her head and disheveled her hair in the process. Oh yes, this was way more comfortable than her office clothes, and Tony sure wouldn't mind.  
To avoid the dry cleaning she'd have to do otherwise, she folded the discarded items and laid them down next to her on the couch. A sip of coffee and she went finally back to work.

 

It was 4 am when Tony decided to call it a day or, well, in his case a night. His concentration has been getting worse and worse, and instead of risking making a mistake, he had decided to catch up on some sleep.

"JARVIS, turn off the lights everywhere, would ya?" he ordered while making his way upstairs, already longing for the comfortable warmth of his bed.

It was a rarity for him to actually sleep in his bedroom instead of the couch in his workshop, but his back had been hurting after the last night, so a good night of sleep would be good. As he had almost reached the top of the stairs, JARVIS answer came and surprised him.

"I'm afraid Ms. Potts is still here, Sir, she is in the living room."

"Is she now?" he mumbled and arrived on the ground floor, promptly seeing what the AI had just told him. Pepper was indeed still there, curled up on the couch in front of a bright screen and a table full of paper. He stepped a bit closer, unable to stay away from the sleeping beauty. It fascinated him every time how beautiful she was, he could stare at her doing nothing all day. The way her red hair flowed over her shoulders, the way she talked and laughed and ordered him around, the way she moved and was now laying on the couch, body buried in the cushions. 

She is wearing my sweater, he noticed, though it was difficult to tell with the lack of light. But as the piece of clothing was way too big for her small frame and looked suspiciously like the one he had left in the kitchen, it was only plausible to assume it. Sweet pain shot through his heart as he recognized that and god, this woman was perfect. 

After looking at her for a few more seconds, he closed the laptop and carefully swooped her up into his arms so her head was resting on his shoulder and her body was pressed against his. Pepper was about as heavy as expected but he still struggled to take her up the stairs. Halfway up she murmured something inaudible, sighed, and snuggled closer to his chest. He could smell the apple shampoo in her hair as he pressed a small kiss into it, just because he could. 

Maybe, he thought as they reached the bedroom assigned to her, maybe one day I will lay her down in a different bed to sleep. But for now, that was just a dream, a stupid one even, so he reached down and pulled the blanket over her, tucking her in as gently as he could. Before he left, he leaned down again, caressing her cheek with his thumb before pressing another kiss to her hair.

"Goodnight, Pepper," he whispered and left the room quietly, too fast to hear her answer.

"Goodnight, Tony."

 

When she went down into the kitchen the next morning, he was already sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in his hands, staring out of the window. Another cup was sitting opposite him, still steaming hot. JARVIS had probably told him she had woken up, which was lowkey creepy, but as it meant coffee she wouldn't complain. 

Pepper was still wearing the sweater she had slept in, though she had changed into sweatpants and was barefoot now. 

"Morning," she said as she stepped closer and sat down, grabbing the steaming cup with both hands. He looked up, a smile forming on his lips. 

"Good Morning, Pep. You slept well?" The awkwardness of the situation was obvious to anyone and everyone, especially the two of them. While she had fallen asleep on his couch more than once, this was the first time he had literally carried her to bed while she was wearing his clothes. She couldn't remember everything as she had only woken up as he had put her down and her eyes had been closed all the time. But what she could remember was his soft lips on her hair and soft words in her ear. A blush spread on her cheeks and she looked away, focusing her gaze on the coffee in her hands. This was so embarrassing.

"I slept fine, thank you. You, ehm, do you want your sweater back?"

Even though she couldn't see him, she could feel the smile spreading on his face and her cheeks burning as he answered. 

"Oh, you can keep it. Looks better on you anyway. Though I would prefer it lying on the floor with you in my bed."

The coffee almost spilled as she set down her cup too quickly, unable to control her reaction to his words. It wasn't that his offer disgusted her, it confused her more than anything. She didn't know what he wanted, what exactly it was he suggested to her. 

A one-night-stand? Friends with benefits? Pepper was quite sure he would never want an actual relationship, that's not what he did. Tony Stark didn't do relationships.  
He had told her the exact thing on several occasions, though a small voice in her mind told her he didn't mean it that way, that it was just a coping mechanism.

Pepper wanted to believe that voice and maybe she would someday, but not now. Not when they were both still figuring themselves out.

Her chair scratched over the floor as she stood up and his eyes followed her every movement. Suddenly, the comfort of his sweater seemed to be smothering her.

"I have to work. Now. I apologize for the inconvenience," she almost whispered and didn't even try to hide the insecurity in her voice.

She slowly walked towards the door, passing him as she did so. For a second, her steps faltered and she came to stand beside him. Hesitantly, she put a hand onto his shoulder, feeling the heat through the shirt he was wearing. His smell was everywhere and inescapable. Maybe she didn't even want to escape from it, but it didn't matter.

The way Tony looked at her, trying to hide the hurt in his eyes, broke her heart, but she couldn't, could she?

"I don't mean it that way," he said quietly, meeting her eyes again. "I know what you think, but it is more than that."

Pepper could only sigh, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of his head like he had done the night before, lingering a bit too long. Letting go of him was hard, staying even harder. They had both made their choice.

She was almost out of the door when he called after her, desperation on his tongue. As much as she wanted to answer, she kept walking with burning eyes and longing in her heart.

"Please, Pepper, stay with me."

It sounded like a proposal as if he had just asked her to marry her and maybe he had. Maybe he would, someday, and then she would be ready.

Maybe one day, she thought, maybe one day I will.


End file.
